Finished City of Bohane by Kevin Barry. Bohane is a dystopian Irish city, some 40 years in the future, and the plot revolves around a badass who returns after 25 years to stir up trouble for the local gangs and one gang leader in particular. But, plot aside, its Barry's writing that makes this book something special. His descriptions, his way with words, and his manner are an easy mish-mash of Irish, street lingo and neologisms, kind of like crossing Clockwork Orange with some Hibernian Trainspotting -ie. 'he had hands on him the size of Belfast sinks.' This guy has a way with language; it just dances. If he keeps this stuff up he'll be going places. Recommended.

Just finished David Finkel's 'The Good Soldiers,' which is an account of 15 months with the 2-16 battalion in Baghdad, part of George Bush's 2007 Iraq 'surge.' Oh boy, is this book sobering. Soldiers are killed, morale and mission belief take beatings and no one comes out of this mess a better person than when they went in, including the upbeat battalion commander. The chapter dealing with those soldiers hospitalized in San Antonio for burns and missing limbs really belies Bush's, or anyone's, military optimism like nothing else. Finkel's writing is excellent - ie. he stays out of the story almost completely and lets the events and soldiers tell their own story. This book tells the other side of the 'Mission Accomplished' narrative, the one not reported on the front pages. Harrowing, but superb.

Just finished David Finkel's 'The Good Soldiers,' which is an account of 15 months with the 2-16 battalion in Baghdad, part of George Bush's 2007 Iraq 'surge.' Oh boy, is this book sobering. Soldiers are killed, morale and mission belief take beatings and no one comes out of this mess a better person than when they went in, including the upbeat battalion commander. The chapter dealing with those soldiers hospitalized in San Antonio for burns and missing limbs really belies Bush's, or anyone's, military optimism like nothing else. Finkel's writing is excellent - ie. he stays out of the story almost completely and lets the events and soldiers tell their own story. This book tells the other side of the 'Mission Accomplished' narrative, the one not reported on the front pages. Harrowing, but superb.

What to Read onGreased and Ready for a Chick-BangingHighQ TbombzAn annotated Foreign Affairs syllabusby the author of the doctrine of double-dildo effect.*

*Which was developed by the author in the insightful, but underappreciated, Strap-Ons and Its Discontents: The Political Benefits of Deep Tissue Massage (OUP). Noted for its sheer brilliance, the seminal work opens: "One end goes in her; one end goes in me."

You've probably seen this, but if you like Thompson, you'll like this job-seeking cover letter:

Vancouver Sun

TO JACK SCOTT, VANCOUVER SUN

October 1, 1958 57 Perry Street New York City

Sir,

I got a hell of a kick reading the piece Time magazine did this week on The Sun. In addition to wishing you the best of luck, I'd also like to offer my services.

Since I haven't seen a copy of the "new" Sun yet, I'll have to make this a tentative offer. I stepped into a dung-hole the last time I took a job with a paper I didn't know anything about (see enclosed clippings) and I'm not quite ready to go charging up another blind alley.

By the time you get this letter, I'll have gotten hold of some of the recent issues of The Sun. Unless it looks totally worthless, I'll let my offer stand. And don't think that my arrogance is unintentional: it's just that I'd rather offend you now than after I started working for you. [Haha!]

I didn't make myself clear to the last man I worked for until after I took the job. It was as if the Marquis de Sade had suddenly found himself working for Billy Graham. The man despised me, of course, and I had nothing but contempt for him and everything he stood for. If you asked him, he'd tell you that I'm "not very likable, (that I) hate people, (that I) just want to be left alone, and (that I) feel too superior to mingle with the average person." (That's a direct quote from a memo he sent to the publisher.)

Nothing beats having good references.

Of course if you asked some of the other people I've worked for, you'd get a different set of answers.

If you're interested enough to answer this letter, I'll be glad to furnish you with a list of references -- including the lad I work for now.

The enclosed clippings should give you a rough idea of who I am. It's a year old, however, and I've changed a bit since it was written. I've taken some writing courses from Columbia in my spare time, learned a hell of a lot about the newspaper business, and developed a healthy contempt for journalism as a profession.

As far as I'm concerned, it's a damned shame that a field as potentially dynamic and vital as journalism should be overrun with dullards, bums, and hacks, hag-ridden with myopia, apathy, and complacence, and generally stuck in a bog of stagnant mediocrity. If this is what you're trying to get The Sun away from, then I think I'd like to work for you.

Most of my experience has been in sports writing, but I can write everything from warmongering propaganda to learned book reviews.

I can work 25 hours a day if necessary, live on any reasonable salary, and don't give a black damn for job security, office politics, or adverse public relations.

I would rather be on the dole than work for a paper I was ashamed of.

It's a long way from here to British Columbia, but I think I'd enjoy the trip.

Never knew about this. Is it well known, or something you picked up on?

I've read some of his op-ed pieces over the years. As well as the gay thing, his views on women are a little nasty. He's a Mormon and I think that informs a lot of his views. I once e-mailed his website and asked if he would ever be anywhere near me, thinking I could get my Ender's Game signed - 'no' was the polite reply.